Presidential Office Asks Public to Consider 'Context and Substance' Amid Migrant Worker Remarks Controversy
After President Lee Jae-myung made a series of remarks over several days regarding migrant workers and multicultural families, the presidential office on the 29th offered clarification, asking the public to "consider the context and substance of the remarks rather than specific words." It even revised and reissued its clarification on multicultural family comments just an hour later. Why have these clarifications come in quick succession?
Kang Yu-jung, senior presidential secretary for press affairs, explained in a notification that day: "The mention of labor and jobs at the Cabinet meeting was not primarily about foreign workers, but about the intent to create quality, wage-guaranteed productive jobs in agriculture and fisheries." Earlier, at a Cabinet meeting on October 27, 2026, President Lee had said, "Bringing in foreign workers to work does not greatly help the national economy," drawing criticism that the comment was factually inaccurate and justified discrimination.
Clarification followed regarding the remarks on multicultural families as well. Senior Secretary Kang said, "This is not about eliminating support for multicultural families," adding, "The point is that if there are elements perceived as reverse discrimination against our citizens, they need to be reviewed." However, about an hour later, the office issued a revised notification, correcting the wording to: "The proposal was to enhance the fairness and rationality of priority use of postpartum care centers and improve the support system so that all families with newborns can relate to it."
On the 28th, President Lee shared a post on X (formerly Twitter) quoting a message from Femco (Ephemere Korea), a conservative-leaning online community, saying: "Beyond ensuring that multicultural families do not suffer harm, we will deeply examine whether preferential treatment is truly necessary, whether such preferential policies should be abolished, and other related issues — through consultations with local governments as well as amendments to enforcement decrees."
